


And a moment seems like hours

by prinz_charlie



Category: Jagged Little Pill - Morissette & Ballard/Morissette/Cody
Genre: Crying, Fluff, Non-binary Jo, Other, TW: Misgendering, Tears, bella sweetie i'm so sorry, tw: mentionings of rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23061547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prinz_charlie/pseuds/prinz_charlie
Summary: When Jo gets a call in the middle of the night they're surprised to find Bella calling them. They pick up nevertheless, they're friends after all. Only minutes later they find themselves on their way to Bella's house...
Relationships: Bella Fox/Jo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	And a moment seems like hours

**Author's Note:**

> tw: mentions of rape, misgendering

Jo was lying in their bed, mindlessly scrolling through various social media while music was blasting from their headphones. They didn’t hear the noises of the night from outside through the opened window. The music was too loud. It made it easier to ignore their mother, who was downstairs talking to someone on the phone. She had been talking on the phone for the last three hours, Jo didn’t understand how she was still awake, considering the fact that it was already after midnight, but they resigned from wondering about it. Jo turned the volume up. They didn't want to hear their mother tell one of her friends about them. “Joanne is ok. She’s going through a weird phase right now, but you know how teenagers are. She’s going to go back to normal eventually.” Jo could still hear their mother’s voice in their head. Too often had they heard their mother blatantly dismissing them and their identity, already. The words had burned themselves into their brain. So, music was the only solution they could get behind if they didn’t want to run away and never face their mother ever again.

The "news" on their feed exhausted them. Why did they even use Twitter? It wasn’t as if they cared about anything the app was trying to show them. It was all just a distraction. And having to get up to do their homework was something they wanted to forget about for as long as possible. It had gotten to the point in Jo’s life where even the hint of a thought about homework drained them of all their energy resulting in them not even wanting to start. They didn’t know what the cause of it was, maybe their mother seeing nothing but their grades ever since they had come out as non-binary to her, maybe it was just school in general.

A bitter laugh escaped Jo at the thought.

Thinking of it this way was easy. It made it seem like their whole life wasn’t the epitome of a shitshow - it was all too ridiculous.

Suddenly the music in their headphones was replaced with the deafening sound of their ringtone and they gave a jump, their phone falling out of their hands and the cable of their headphones getting unplugged from their phone. Shaking their head at their own jumpiness they sat up, picked up their phone and read the name on the display.

Bella Fox

Jo’s heart did a little jump at the name.

They had become pretty good friends with each other, ever since whatever Jo and Frankie had had had ended. Jo had made a habit out of checking in on Bella, starting with simply asking her how she was. It didn’t take long for them to spend their lunches together, sometimes laughing about insignificant occurrences of the day, sometimes talking about the things they had gone through. Though, they mostly reserved these kinds of conversations for their meetups outside of school. Getting pizza or simply grabbing a cup of coffee after school had become part of their routine. Most of the time they met up at Bella’s place afterward, to just hang and enjoy each other’s presence. Bella’s mother had immediately liked Jo and made them feel welcomed - happy, that Bella had found someone she called a friend.

It was a Saturday, though. So, why was Bella calling Jo now?

Frowning, Jo picked up. “Bella, what’s up? You need anything?”

“Are you home?”, Bella answered with a question, her voice shaking a little.

“Yeah”, Jo answered slowly. There were a few seconds of silence where Jo only heard muffled noises from the other end of the connection. Concerned they stood up, already checking that their keys were still in their back pocket. “Bella are you ok?”

“Can you come over?”, Bella asked, her voice more silent now.

“Bella, it’s like 2 a.m.…” Jo walked over to their closet and pulled out a hoodie while putting on their beanie and closing the window over their desk. “What’s happening?”

“Please”, Bella said.

Jo picked up their headphones, letting go of a short breath. “Ok, sure. I’ll be right there.” Opening the door to their room they plugged in their headphones and hurried down the stairs.

“Thank you”, Bella breathed out.

With that, the call ended. Jo made their way through the living room and pulled open the front door, a cold blast of air lashing into their face.

“Where are you going?”, their mother asked from the couch, putting a hand over the speaker of her phone, so her friend wouldn’t hear her. “Why are you even still awake?”

“Could ask you the same question”, Jo answered dryly. “And I’m going to a friend’s house.”

They ignored whatever their mother started to say and pulled the door shut behind them, jogging over to their car. Turning up the music on their phone they engaged first gear, pulled out of the driveway and shortly after found themself driving down the road to Bella’s house.

Bella’s scared voice resounded in their brain. Something about Bella's voice made Jo believe that she had been crying, maybe even still was. With every turn they took that brought them closer to Bella’s house, their concern grew. It even got to the point where they practically yanked their headphones out of their ears, stuffed them into the pocket of their hoodie, stuffed their beanie into the pocket of their hoodie as well and pulled up Bella’s contact on their phone as they downright jumped out of their car. “I’m here now”, they said, impatiently waiting for Bella’s response.

They didn’t get one, though. Instead, the front door of the Fox-house was opened, and they found Bella standing behind it – with tearstained cheeks and her arms crossed in front of her chest. 

“Bella, what’s the matter?”, Jo whispered coming in, instinctively putting an arm around her.

“My parents aren’t home”, Bella said, her voice still shaking. “You can talk normally.” Her voice didn’t sound like her own, was so weak and scared.

“What’s the matter?”, Jo repeated in a softer tone now, reaching across Bella to shut the door.

“I…” Bella’s voice got caught in her throat and big tears started building up in her eyes. “I…”

“Hey, it’s ok, come on.” Jo softly pulled Bella with them to Bella’s room. “It’s ok, calm down. You’re not alone, tell me everything.” They shut Bella’s door and guided Bella over to the couch in her room. Shaking, Bella sat down, looking down on the floor and slightly shaking their head again and again. “You’re ok”, Jo stated softly, sitting down next to Bella, their arm still lazily draped over her shoulders.

“This can’t be happening”, Bella repeated like a mantra. “God, please make it stop.”

“What’s the matter”, Jo repeated, leaning forward to look into Bella’s eyes. Bella looked at them with a pained expression, before a new quantity of tears rolled down her cheeks. Jo pulled her closer, pushing a strand of hair out of her face and wiping away a tear from her cheek. “Tell me, Bella.”

“I- The nightmares”, Bella choked out. “You remember that I told you about them? The-the nightmares of…” She got interrupted by a sob.

“Yeah, I remember”, Jo said quickly, their grip around Bella fastening in a protective manner. She had told them about it when Jo had stayed over at her house one time. The reoccurring dreams about the events of Lancer’s party. About everything afterward, how no one had believed Bella when she had been in so desperate need of someone to be her rock. “Did you have a nightmare again?”, Jo asked caringly.

Bella nodded. “I- I’ve had them a few nights in a row now”, she choked out. “I- They won't stop, Jo. They keep coming back and I can’t – I can’t stand it anymore. I – I want to feel normal again.” The look in Bella’s eyes, the pure hurt and despair and surrender in them nearly made tears well up in Jo’s eyes. “I want to feel normal”, Bella repeated, her voice a mere whisper as it got caught in her throat again.

“Come here”, Jo whispered, pulling Bella into a hug. Bella collapsed into them, silently sobbing into their shirt. She pulled herself closer to Jo using their hoodie, holding onto it like a lifeline. “You’re here with me now”, Jo whispered slightly, letting a hand run through Bella’s hair. “You’re safe.” They rubbed soothing circles onto her back, holding her close as if to tell her that she could lean on them. That they would never leave.

“I’m sorry”, Bella whispered. “It-It’s too much, I can’t take it anymore.”

“Don’t be sorry”, Jo said. “It’s ok, I’ve got you.”

Bella pulled away just slightly so that she could look Jo in the eyes. “When will they disappear?”, she asked, her voice trembling.

Jo bit their lip, their hand now protectively resting on Bella’s back. “I don’t know”, they answered honestly. “I don’t know Bella. And I can’t even imagine what they feel like… the nightmares.” Bella pushed herself up a little, so she was looking into Jo’s eyes and wasn’t slumped into them anymore. “It must be horrible”, Jo said silently, one of their hands resting on Bella’s back while their other one trailed down their arm. Absentmindedly Jo took Bella’s hand. “And I don’t know when they will stop”, they whispered, looking into Bella’s eyes. They squeezed her hand a little. “But they will”, they continued. “I promise, Bella, they will.” Jo bit their lip. “You’re not alone in this. I’ve got you. Frankie’s got you.”

“But what if she abandons me one day? If everyone just… stops caring one day?”, Bella asked silently. Bella’s firm belief that that was going to happen made Jo shake their head and bite their lip.

“It won’t”, they answered firmly. “And even if everyone leaves…” They stared into her eyes, their other hand running down her arm and embracing Bella’s second hand. They squeezed both of Bella’s hands slightly. “ _I_ won’t.” They shook their head a little. “No matter what happens, Bella. You’re not alone in this. You've got me.” Bella looked at them through tears, her eyes were big and disbelieving. For a second her gaze dropped down to Jo’s lips before it shot back up to their eyes again. “I’ve got you, I promise”, Jo said, suppressing their own tears that were burning in their eyes at seeing Bella like this. “I promise”, they repeated silently.

In the next moment, Bella was leaning in and her lips melted against Jo's. Jo let out a gasp of surprise before their eyes fell shut without their control and they got lost in the feeling of Bella’s lips on theirs, letting go of one of her hands, to put their own on Bella’s torso and pull her closer. It was a soft, tender kiss. Jo still felt tears on Bella’s cheeks when they cupped one of them and pulled her just a little closer. Bella’s hands came to a rest on Jo’s torso. She now fully melted into the kiss, her fingers just slightly pressing into Jo’s hoodie to ground herself. Jo grounded themself by holding on to Bella’s shirt.

Bella pulled back, Jo chasing after her lips for a second before their eyes fluttered open again. Bella leaned her forehead against Jo’s, burying a hand of hers in Jo’s short hair. “Thank you”, she broke the silence with a whisper. 

“Of course”, Jo breathed out, putting a hand under Bella’s chin and making her look up a little, their foreheads still touching. Jo got lost in Bella’s eyes. “Of course”, they repeated, Bella’s gaze dropping again, as Jo let go of her chin and their gaze dropped down as well.

Simultaneously they reached for each other’s free hand.

“Can you stay?”, Bella asked. “You can borrow my clothes…”

“Of course, I can”, Jo answered gently. “Don’t worry about anything, I’ll stay as long as you want me to.”

Bella nodded a little, pressing her eyes shut for a second before looking up at Jo again and nodding more definite now. “Thank you”, she whispered.

“Always”, Jo murmured. Hesitantly, they leaned in for another kiss. Bella reciprocated the kiss immediately, melting against Jo all over again. “Want to go to sleep now?”, Jo whispered against her lips. Bella nodded. “Ok”, Jo whispered, letting their thumb run over Bella’s cheek again. They stood up at the same time, Jo’s hand only slipping out of Bella’s because they were walking over to the light switch to turn the light off. Bella wrapped up, nearly hiding under her blanket and curled up into a ball. Silently Jo made their way to the couch and put a pillow on one end of it. Before they could lie down and close their eyes though, they heard Bella’s voice from the bed.

“Can you sleep next to me?”, she asked, her voice still thick with tears. “Hold me?”, she added more silently.

Jo got up and walked over to Bella, nodding a little, even though Bella couldn’t see them in the dark. She didn’t need to. As soon as Jo sat down on the bed Bella scooted over to make room for them. Jo lay down next to her and Bella covered them with half of her blanket, sheepishly scooting close to them. Jo put their arms around Bella. "Good night", they murmured.

Bella scooted closer to Jo, letting herself be embraced by Jo’s warm, safe arms. “Good night.”

The nightmares didn’t return for all the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so, so sorry, I just want Bella to be happy, ok? And I want Jo to be happy. I want them to be happy. That's all. Anyway, tysm for reading, it means a whole lot to me! I'll ready you next time!
> 
> ps: hmu on tumblr (@haveuseenmylife)


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